At Slate Run, Jacob Knepper and his family acquired land from the federal government in 1805 and cleared its primarily virgin forest for farming. The Kneppers sold the farm to Isaac Fridley in 1852, and the Fridleys built a Gothic Revival house in 1856. Samuel Oman bought the farm in 1867, the current barn was built in 1881 with locally cut timber and roofing slate from out of state, and the Omans sold the property to Charles Bigelow in 1889. The Bigelows sold it to the White family in 1907, electricity became available in this rural area in the 1930s, and heirs of the Whites sold the farm to Metro Parks in 1964. Slate Run Metro Park eventually exceeded 1700 acres, and in 1981 Slate Run Living Historical Farm opened to the public after research, extensive restoration of the buildings, and the purchase of furnishings, farm equipment, and livestock. These changes unfolded alongside Ohio's development from statehood in 1803, the organization of Pickaway County in 1810, canal and rail connections, and the state's shift from largely untamed wilderness to a predominantly urban population. They also took place amid national developments including the Louisiana Purchase, the National Road, new farm and communication technologies, the Civil War, the spread of railroads, the automobile, radio, the Great Depression, two world wars, electricity, the transistor, the Korean and Vietnam wars, the civil rights era, the moon landing, and the personal computer.